The Entropy of Salvation
by Deosil
Summary: There is no avoiding fate now and Clark has to make some hard decisions. Choices are the determining steps, love and fear are the influences and power is an inevitability. This is a war that cannot be won by strength alone. Season 7! Clois eventually!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

It Isn't Over Yet

Clark faces his new double, the wraith from the phantom zone which has now taken on his appearance.

"What the hell are you?" Clark asks.

Supercharged by kryptonite thanks to Lionel Luthor bizarro Clark smiles, "I'm you…only a little more bizarre." Clark couldn't help but be a little scared. This new bizarro Clark had all of his strengths and none of his weaknesses, but he had to do something.

They faced off, their eyes locked, and then superspeed towards each other. They get closer and closer, neither one letting up even an inch. They collided, bizarro Clark grabbing Clark's jacket and swinging him round. Clark tried to pry bizarro Clark's fingers off him but the wraith was too strong, he let Clark go and watched him fly towards the wall, unceremoniously crashing through it and carrying on into the distance.

Bizzaro Clark smiled once more before bending his knees and pushing up at superspeed, flying towards the wall Clark just crashed through, bursting through it like it was paper and flew after Clark.

Still inside the dam Lois was in a state of panic. Not usually prone to being scared and afraid she couldn't help but let these feelings get the better of her looking at her barely alive, unmoving cousin.

"Come on Chlo!" Lois pleaded, "you can't die, not here, and especially not for me!" Trying to get her emotions in check Lois stood up and took out her cell phone "Damn! no reception!" she turned her attention to Chloe, "We're getting out of here Chlo even if I have to drag you out of here and ruin your new shoes." She picked up her cousin by the shoulders and started dragging her, hoping to God she could find her way out in time to save Chloe.

The damage done to the dam wall by Clark and bizarro Clark's fight was causing the whole thing to collapse. Cracks in the walls were letting water in and the pressure was forcing them to get bigger. Lois felt the spray of water against her face and feet realising what was happening as she frantically pulled Chloe through the slowly rising water.

"Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap!" she mumbled. "Almost there Chlo just hang on! At least I hope we are." As she approached another corner she heard someone shout out.

"Help!" It sounded like…but why would he be down here? She rounded the corner and saw she was right. Lionel Luthor lay trapped under a burst water pipe and debris. Knowing she didn't have much time, she hesitated for only a second before leaning Chloe against a wall and running over to help him. She grabbed the water pipe that had collapsed on him and heaved it as hard as she could. It bent just enough to free him and she put one arm around his shoulder and helped him up.

"We need to go _now_ Mr. Luthor. The walls are about to burst and Chloe doesn't have much time." She said urgently as he limped over and helped her pick up Chloe.

"What happened to her? And what are you two doing down here?" he asked questioningly.

"No time for that now" Lois stated commandingly. "Just help me get her out." Lionel nodded and helped Lois grab Chloe and they began making their way towards the exit.

The water levels were rising and dragging Chloe was beginning to take its toll, especially on Lionel who Lois realised had a nasty piece of metal protruding from his leg.

After what seemed like forever Lois shouted, "There!" motioning to the end of tunnel. "Just round the next corner, that light must be the exit! Thank God." With a sigh of relief they reached the exit and were outside, soaking wet but alive. At least for now Lois thought looking at Chloe. Making sure they were all a safe distance away from the pending explosion of the dam Lois quickly pulled out her cell phone and dialled 911.

"I need 2 ambulances to Reeves Dam right away!" The voice on the other end of the phone gave an affirmative and she hung up the phone and looked over to Lionel and Chloe. Lionel had collapsed on the floor obviously in a lot of pain from his leg. Lois checked Chloe's pulse and found it was faint but still there. "You're gonna be okay Chlo," she said reassuringly stroking her cousin's head hoping she was right. Guilt was overwhelming Lois right now, the idea that Chloe would die to just to save her didn't bear thinking about.

"Lois," Lionel said urgently. "You have to go and help Clark. He's in a lot of danger"

"Smallville?" she asked incredulously. "Why's he in danger?"

"No time, you have to go to the mansion and get a black meteor rock from Lex's vault. There's a switch underneath his desk that reveals the vault and the codes 8362. Once you have it you have to go the caves. Clark's life depends on it."

Lois was trying to wrap her head around these instructions and what Lionel was asking of her. She thought he may have an ulterior motive for her to leave but his face looked serious and genuinely worried. Still a little doubtful she asked, "what about Chloe and your leg?"

"The ambulance will be here shortly and I'll make sure she gets the best care when we get to the hospital. Now go, there's not much time."

With a quick look at Chloe Lois ran to her car and headed towards the mansion as instructed. Driving as fast as she could down route 70 she was passed by two ambulances, sirens screaming. She thought of Chloe and prayed for her to be o.k. as she skidded round a corner and up the drive of the mansion. The place was practically deserted when she got there. No Lana, no Lex, no security. This made her job easier she thought running into Lex's office and per Lionel's instructions hit the switch under Lex's desk to reveal the vault and then entered the code on the keypad. The vault door swung open and Lois gasped.

"Geez baldy what's with all the rocks?" she said eyeing all the different types of meteor rock in there stacked shelf on shelf. There was the normal green stuff she had seen plenty of times before but also red, silver and, the one she was looking for, a single piece of black kryptonite. Not wasting time, she grabbed it and left. "You better be in a lot of danger Smallville," she said out loud realising that what she had just done was actually breaking and entering as well as theft. Oh well she thought, next stop, the caves.

AN: Please review and tell me what you think of this first chapter. I promise i'll update soon. Thanks. REVIEW!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Two's Company, Three's A Crowd

Clark hurtled through the air, trying desperately to control his movement. He could see bizarro Clark flying after him at breakneck speed and he wondered how both Kal-El and bizarro Clark could fly but he couldn't. His body obviously had the potential he just needed to unlock it, find the trigger, and fast. Bizarro Clark was gaining on him and he was about to smash into the ground. He willed his whole body to stop, to just float in mid-air but it was too late. He crashed through the trees in the forest surrounding Reeves dam hitting the floor and leaving a giant crater. Dazed and aching Clark tentatively got up seeing bizarro Clark stood at the top of the crater.

"You have not accepted your true Kryptonian heritage!" bizarro Clark commented, obviously referring to Clark's inability to fly. His trademark sinister grin returned, "You make this too easy Kal-El."

His arrogant attitude caused anger to well up inside of Clark and with hardened resolve he leapt out of the crater firing his heat vision at bizarro Clark who dodged and replied with a burst of his own heat vision. Without moving Clark countered the heat vision with his super breath. When the cold breath hit the searing heat a great cloud of steam erupted hiding them from each others view. This respite gave Clark a little time to think. His powers weren't enough to beat the wraith so he needed another way. With all synapses firing, he had an idea. The fortress! Maybe there was something there that could help him! As the steam cloud disappeared Clark sped off to the farm to get the key and then to the caves from where he would go to the fortress. Hoping bizarro Clark was following, Clark turned his head around and smiled. He was.

Lois pulled up right by the cave entrance and stepped out of her car. Walking towards the cave she eyed the black kryptonite in her hand. "So Smallville's in trouble and I'm supposed to help him with a rock?" she said in disbelief. "The general would certainly laugh at you for this one Lane." She walked through the cave nervously, wondering what to expect, passed the drawing of Numan and Segeeth, not that she knew what that was, and finally spotted Clark.

"Hey Smallville!" she said and he turned around, quickly putting the key he was fingering back in his pocket. "Woah you don't look too hot, you ok?" she asked noticing he looked tired and a bit pale.

"Lois you have to get out of here now!" he said urgently walking over to her and grabbing by the shoulders to turn her back the way she came but Lois would have none of it.

"Look Smallville I was told you were in danger. And despite the fact that you look like you need a little rest you're fine so tell me what's going on and why I'm carrying this," she said pulling the black kryptonite from her pocket.

Clark was finding it hard not to act surprised. "Look Lois I don't know where you got that but-" before he could finish his sentence bizarro Clark had sped in and tackled him. They both flew towards the cave wall and crashed into it.

The ground at Lois's feet shook with the impact "Clark!" she screamed. She ran over to help him as his assailant turned around and she stopped dead. "Clark?" Her head was spinning, Clark had tackled Clark? There were two Smallvilles?

Bizarro Clark began strangling Clark who started to gag. "Time to die Kal-El, last son of Krypton."

Clark's mind was in overdrive, he saw the black kryptonite in Lois's hand then he realised, maybe the reason the wraith had created another Clark was because he couldn't inhabit Clark's normal body. So to force the wraith out he would need to force their bodies back together!

"Lois!" Clark gasped. "The rock! I need the rock!" Confused and panicking from watching Clark strangle Clark she noticed that there was definitely something odd about the Clark doing the strangling. "Lois!" Clark pleaded with his free hand outstretched, the other trying to push off bizarro Clark with little success.

Lois made her decision and ran over, her right hand reaching out to give the black kryptonite to Clark but bizarro Clark swatted her away effortlessly and she flew against the cave wall knocking her unconscious. The black kryptonite had fallen inches away from Clark's hand but he couldn't hold on much longer. He was getting no air and his whole body was starting to go limp. Clawing madly for the rock he finally clasped his hand over it and with his last bit of remaining strength stabbed it into the heart of bizarro Clark. Keeping hold of it he felt bizarro Clark's grip weaken and air flooded his oxygen deprived lungs. Clark felt it, their bodies were coming back together and he heard the wraith screaming as it was forced out of its host. Knowing he would have to act now Clark reached into his pocket and took out the crystal Rya had given him. The rejoining of the bodies was causing both to convulse and Clark was finding it hard to keep hold of the crystal but he remained steady. As soon as both bodies were back together the wraith was forced out and without hesitation Clark thrust the crystal right at the wraith which began screaming as it was being trapped inside the crystal. It took all of Clark's will to hold on but the wraith was becoming more and more absorbed by the crystal. Only a few more seconds Clark thought, but the sheer effort it required to hold on was draining him to the point of exhaustion. Just as he thought he had no strength left the screaming stopped and the wraith was gone.

A huge white glow emanated from the crystal as it fell from Clark's hand seconds before he crumpled to the floor.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

I Don't Remember Falling Asleep Here

_Tick-tock, tick-tock… beep…beep…beep… "Lois?"…tick-tock…beep… "Lois can you hear me?"…tick-_

Lois shot up in her bed, "Clark!" she shouted. Getting her bearings she realized where she was and who had been calling her name. "Oh hi Mrs. Kent," she said slightly embarrassed. Looking around she saw the clock on the wall ticking and looking down at herself she saw wires attached to her that led back to a heart rate monitor. "I thought that you were…" she let her sentence trail off. Reality flooding back to her she started to remember everything; Chloe, the dam, the caves, Clark.

"How are you feeling?" Mrs. Kent asked concernedly. In her usual nonchalant manner Lois just shrugged it off.

"I'm fine, nothing I can't handle. Are Clark and Chloe ok?" she asked trying to get out of bed but ended up falling back down and wincing in pain.

"Lois, you've got a concussion and three broken ribs, you may think you're fine but you have to rest." Mrs. Kent said kindly. "Chloe's here, it was a bit touch and go for a while because the doctors had no idea what was wrong with her but she seemed to get better by herself. They said her body suffered a huge energy drain so she'll be out for a few days but she should be fine. But I was hoping you could tell me where Clark is."

"You mean Clark isn't here?" she asked. "Oh no Mrs. Kent, Clark's in trouble, the last thing I remember we were in the caves and Clark was being strangled by, well, himself. Only his other self seemed odd, and I had this black meteor rock that Lionel asked me to get, and Clark was asking for it and I went to give it to him, but the odd Clark hit me away, pretty damn hard actually, then I blacked out and now-"

"Whoa Lois, slow down," said Mrs. Kent. She had been in the middle of a meeting with some of the other state senators when she had gotten the call from Lionel saying that Clark was in trouble and that he'd dispatched a helicopter to pick her up. She had gone straight to caves like Lionel had instructed and found an unconscious Lois but no Clark. Now she was worried; Two Clarks, black krytptonite? She was sure it had something to do with the phantoms from the phantom zone and now she had no idea where Clark could be and no way of knowing if he was safe. It was times like these she felt most alone and the loss of her husband weighed most heavily on her heart.

Mrs Kent broke down and began to cry and Lois sat up to comfort her. "I wish Jonathan were here," she sobbed. "And now Clark's gone and I don't know whether he's going to be alright." She continued to sob into Lois's shoulder who, despite feeling very worried about Clark herself, reassured Mrs Kent.

"You've just got to be strong Mrs Kent, there's more to Clark than the plaid wearing farmboy routine." Lois started to think back on all the times Clark had miraculously showed up to save the day. Especially today back in the caves, she was pretty certain the odd Clark called normal Clark Kal-El or Kryptonian or something like that and the strength they had displayed was immense. Yes there was no doubting that Clark Kent was not your typical farmboy and Lois Lane was beginning to wonder about the mystery that was Clark Kent.

* * *

Lionel Luthor, leg bandaged and with a slight limp, pushed open the door to Lex's office. His son sat behind his desk pouring himself a brandy. "A little early to be drinking don't you think son?" Lionel commented taking a seat in front of his desk. "I suggest you make the most of it. I'm pretty sure they don't serve brandy in prison. I'm surprised you even got bail." 

"There's no evidence it was me. Do you know why?" Lex looked up slowly, eyes focused on his father. "Because I didn't murder my wife!" He shouted slamming his glass on the desk. "I loved Lana, I would never hurt her."

"Yes, that was until you realised that she betrayed you. I forced her to marry you son, she never loved you, she was spying on you. You always did let your emotions get the best of you and now look where it's gotten you."

"Get out." Lex said dangerously. Lionel stood up to leave and started to walk away. He stopped and turned to Lex, "You know it's over Lex. Project Ares is over. The dam was destroyed; the phantom you were tracking has disappeared."

"Yes and I'm supposed to believe it's just a coincidence that at the same time a black meteorite is stolen from my vault and Clark Kent disappears! You've been helping him and plotting against me. You know I'm not paranoid or delusional when it comes to Clark Kent. Who's your _real_ son dad?" Lex questioned. Ignoring the comment Lionel turned on his heels and left as Lex knocked back the rest of his drink.

* * *

_He felt warmth. A rejuvenating warmth that spread intravenously through his whole body then nothing._

"Awaken Kal-El," a voice sounded. Clark heard it as a vague whisper which gradually got louder as it was spoken again. "Awaken Kal-El." Opening his eyes and taking in his surroundings Clark realised he was in the fortress. The voice of Jor-El was unmistakable but it was the figure that stood aside the crystal console who took Clark by surprise. The Martian Manhunter who Clark had recently found out had been watching him since his arrival on earth. The wound that he had had before was now gone.

"How did I get hear?" he asked. It was Jor-El that replied.

"You are here, for the most part, due to your will. I am proud to call you my son Kal-El." Clark wasn't expecting this sort of response; they were quite possibly the nicest words his biological father had ever said to him. "The semantics of you arrival at this point can be better explained by him." Jor-El said referring to the Martian Manhunter who stepped forward and began to speak.

"I arrived at the cave just as the wraith disappeared into the stone. I would have gotten there sooner but I assumed you would be here at the fortress."

"That was my plan," Clark replied, "but I ran into Lois at the cave."

"That is a good thing; you quite possibly owe her your life." Seeing the question percolating on Clark's lips the Martian Manhunter continued. "You do not need to worry about her, your earth mother arrived shortly after I did so she is safe. But you, you were a different story. Despite your will, your body was not prepared for the battle with or the after effects of the battle with the wraith so you fell into a comatose state. You know your powers on this planet are fuelled by the sun?" Clark nodded, "well the only chance you had of coming out of it was to be refuelled so to speak. So I took you, and the crystal, out of earth's atmosphere. There I threw the crystal off into space and waited until I was confident you would be ok."

"I owe you my life," Clark said meaning every word. There was a long silence and as Clark became more aware of his surroundings and what he had been told, so to he became more aware of the events that led him to where he was now. Lana Lang, the love of his life was dead, murdered by Lex Luthor. After everything they had been through, she finally knew everything about him and they were going to be happy together. Not anymore. Nothing could stop his heart from crumbling within his bullet-proof chest, or his stomach from wrenching, or every fibre of his being despairing. In the presence of both his biological father and his secret protector he fell to his knees as tears came unbidden to his eyes and he wept. Was he not destined to be happy? Was it his fate to be alone? His thoughts now focused on one man, the man who had swept happiness from underneath him, the man who was going pay for what he did. Driven by anger Clark got up to leave.

"Where are you going Kal-El?" his biological father asked.

With tears still wet on his face Clark replied, "I'm going to kill Lex Luthor."

"You have no just reason to kill Lex Luthor my son," Jor-El said.

"Your father's right Kal-El, I will not let you kill him, you are no murderer." The Martian Manhunter added.

Blinded by anger and fuelled by grief Clark shouted, "Do you not get it? HE MURDERED THE WOMAN I LOVE! Who are you to say whether it's just or not?!"

"Because," Jor-El stated simply. "Lana Lang is alive."

_AN: PLEASE REVIEW I WANT TO KNOW WHAT YOU THINK! PLEASE!_


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

A Little More Action Please

How long had he been up here he wondered; one hour or five hours? Judging by the setting sun he guessed closer to five. He had been sat in his barn since returning from the fortress, brooding and attempting to unravel the tangled ropes that were his thoughts. As soon as he returned he had come across a very relieved Martha Kent who made him tell her everything straight away, but not before giving him an enormous hug. She had been on her way to pick up Lois from the hospital which gave Clark time alone to think. Lana was alive! He couldn't believe it. He tried to fathom the mystery of what had happened and could only assume that Lana had set the whole thing up to free herself from Lex. But where did Clark fit into all this? Was he part of her plan? One thing kept echoing in Clark's head. "She is not your destiny Kal-El." Jor-El had told him.

He had not said anything else, not that Clark shouldn't try and find her or that he shouldn't get romantically involved with any human, just that _she_ wasn't his destiny. Despite not being able to identify an ulterior motive in Jor-El's words Clark couldn't help but disagree. The problem was he didn't know where to start looking for Lana, or whether it was right to go and see her even if he did know. He was snapped out of his pensive state as he heard footsteps coming towards the loft.

"You coming down for supper Smallville or are you gonna stay up here and eat hay?" Lois said jokingly and Clark noticed the bandage she had around her ribs. He knew she was trying to be nice, after all she still thought Lana was dead and she knew how much Lana meant to Clark.

"I think I'm ok up here," Clark said looking at the floor then up to Lois, "How's Chloe doing?" he asked.

"Still sleeping," Lois replied. "The doctors say she should wake up any day now. That's one hell of a meteor power she's got there." Clark could see the worry in Lois's eyes about her cousin and it wasn't very often Lois Lane showed emotion.

"How are you feeling?" he asked caringly.

Lois glanced at the bandage around her ribs and smiled slightly. "I'm pushing through the pain, that's what Lanes do." She said, and then her facial expression went more serious. "But I've got to admit Clark, I've been going over what happened in my head and it doesn't really make sense. What was going on down in the caves?"

Clark became suddenly nervous, he knew Lois was going to ask questions but had been too distracted to think about it. So he fell back into his default stance; lie.

"I don't know," he said. "One minute I was in the caves talking to you and the next minute I got tackled by that other me. I still don't know how it happened I'm just glad you were there to help me out." Clark was lying, he knew it and she knew it. His story definitely strained credulity but she thought now was not the best time to push it given the circumstances. Lois thought it was probably time to leave him alone and she turned around to leave. As she reached the stairs she turned around, "Look, I know Chloe's always in Metropolis but if you ever want to talk Smallville, about _anything_, I'm here. Life's too short to be spent alone." Before Clark could say anything she was already down the stairs.

That's such an odd gesture coming from Lois he thought, appreciating that behind their bickering and banter there was a solid friendship. Although he couldn't help but think to himself that Chloe being in Metropolis all the time wasn't a problem given his superspeed. Taking it easy he could be in Metropolis in less than 5 minutes. _Metropolis _he thought his brain accelerating, Lana's aunt Nell lived out in Metropolis! Surely if she had to run somewhere it would be there, after all her aunt Nell had been her only family since her parents were killed. If there was a chance she could be there he was going to find out, despite Jor-El's words. Without a second thought he got up and shot off towards Metropolis.

* * *

Clark banged on the apartment door. 

No answer.

He knocked again.

No answer.

Either no one was in or someone thought it wasn't safe to answer the door. He knocked once more this time saying, "Lana?"

Silence.

Dejectedly Clark turned around to leave when he heard something. A single footfall. Using his super hearing he listened more closely, honing in on the person that made the sound. He located a heart beet. "Lana it's me, Clark." he said once more and the heartbeat quickened.

That was all he needed to force the door open as his eyes darted around the room. There she was; Lana Lang, stood in the middle of the room, her beautiful face stained by tears. Neither one could help it as they ran towards each other. Clark picked her up in his arms and they kissed with a fierce passion, their arms wrapped around each other, refusing to let go.

* * *

Lex had been to survey the damage at Reeves Dam. His father was right; the facility had been completely destroyed and the wraith he was chasing had escaped. His scientists were killed, his potential host army was gone and everything was presumed lost or destroyed. In addition he was currently the prime suspect in a murder investigation and was facing life in prison. It appeared that Lex's back was certainly against the wall now. His father in particular had now written off Lex as a threat and that's how Lex liked it. If only his father knew what he knew. Looking down at what he held in his hands and then up to his vault, Lex smiled. 

It wasn't over, it hadn't even begun.

**_AN: Please review! IF YOU'RE NOT A FAN OF CLANA, DON'T GIVE UP YET. HAPPINESS DOESNT LAST IN SMALLVILLE ; )_**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

No Rest for the Wicked. What About the Good Guys?

Light crept in through the gaps in the curtains, bathing Clark and Lana in warmth. Clark slowly opened his eyes seeing Lana asleep on his chest and smiled contentedly. Last night was the first time they had been intimately together in too long. The only words they had spoken to each other were words of love and every emotion Clark had been feeling recently had combined to form an overwhelming feeling of bliss from the second he had kissed Lana. Trying to be extremely quiet he gently lifted Lana's head off of his chest and placed it on the pillow as he got up out of bed and got dressed.

Lana found him about 10 minutes later sat on the couch with a cup of coffee, staring thoughtfully out of the window. Last night had been amazing for her; there was no other person she felt so safe with or so much love for.

"Nickel for your thoughts?" she asked gently and smiled as Clark turned to face her replying with a weak smile.

"Why did you do it Lana?" he asked sadly. "If you wanted to get free from Lex you could've come to me."

"It was the only way Clark." She said sombrely. "The only way I was ever going to be free was if Lex was dead or I was. He never would've let me just walk away. I know your strong Clark but you couldn't have protected me from Lex forever and you're certainly not a murderer." She walked over to where Clark was sat and sat down beside him taking his hand.

"I saw the look on his face when thought you were dead Lana. He was devastated and now he's under suspicion of murder. I know he's a bad person but he wouldn't kill you. Please come back to Smallville with me and we'll sort everything out." Clark pleaded.

He felt small fragments of his heart fall away as she shook her head. "You don't know Lex like I do. What he's capable of. I wouldn't be safe Clark. I can't come back." Tears started to form in her eyes and Clark felt the same happening to him too but held them back.

"So what are you going to do? Run away? Hide?" he said standing up, his sadness making him angry. "What about us Lana?" Now he was unable to stop the tears from coming. She stood up and put her arms around his shoulders openly crying.

"I love you Clark, more than anything in the world. But I have to go, I can't come back. Please, I just want you to understand this."

"Then I'm coming with you. I'm not letting you go Lana, I want to spend my life with you. No matter what that life is." Like Lois had told him earlier, life was too short to be spent alone, and he had just the right person to spend it with.

"I can't let you do that Clark. You have a life and a destiny that doesn't involve running away." At this moment Jor-El's words flashed in his mind. "You're meant for amazing things, you're meant to help the world. I'd be robbing the world of a hero if I let you come with me."

His heart knew exactly what it wanted but he still couldn't stop the tugging he felt in his subconscious. For most people destiny wasn't something to give much thought to but for Clark, he thought about it on a daily basis. He had always loved Lana and now he felt like he had to choose between love and his suposed destiny.Glancing away from Lana he saw the clock on the wall and realised it was already 9 o'clock. "Lana I have to go. My mum will be wondering where I got to last night and I have all the chores to do. But I'll come back this afternoon and we'll talk o.k.?" Lana nodded and moved in to kiss him. The kiss was soft and loving and Clark was reluctant to pull away. Eventually doing so, he kissed her forehead and left without another word. Lana looked longingly at the spot where Clark had been only moments ago.

"Goodbye Clark."

* * *

"No I am not joking!" Lois lane said down the phone. "I know it's hard to believe but just because I work for The Inquisitor…well yes, what's wrong with working for...hello?...hello?" Lois slammed the phone down very frustrated. She had not seen Clark enter and jumped as she saw him in front of her. "Geez Smallville, stalk much?" she said mockingly. Not particularly in the mood Clark ignored her comment and sat down opposite her. Lois quickly picked up on the fact that he wasn't in a joke around kind of mood.

"What was the phone call about?" he asked wondering what had caused her to almost break the phone.

"I was trying to report to the Smallville police department what happened at the dam and what Lex was up to but they just laughed me off. Either because I work for The Inquisitor, which is highly reputable by the way," Clark nodded a "yeah sure" and Lois continued. "Or because baldy pulled one hell of a Houdini and made everything disappear."

"My guess is a combination of both" Clark said. Changing topic Lois asked Clark where he had been last night.

"I stayed at a friend's house," he lied. Lois stared at him in disbelief.

"One, you don't have any friends," she said jokingly. "And two, your mum was worried about you."

"I know," Clark said guiltily. "But there's just things going on at the moment." Lois looked at him sympathetically and reached across the table taking his hand in hers.

"Clark I know things are tough right now, especially for you. You've had a lot to deal with." She didn't want to mention his dad or Lana by name so she just hoped he knew what she meant. "But bottling things up and staying out at night isn't going to help, trust me."

Clark looked around awkwardly not wanting to look directly at Lois. She was being genuine and nice and he found that extremely uncomfortable simply because it was so out of character. "I have chores to do so I best go," he said getting up but Lois kept a firm hold of his hand.

"Look Smallville, usually I'd just let you go off and do your whole brooding thing but not this time. You've got people that care about you and I'm gonna make you realise that." She got up and gave him a smile. "Come on, today we'll do your chores together and we'll get it done twice as fast!"

Letting out a groan Clark couldn't help but think that Lois's helping him with the chores wouldn't be twice as fast but twenty times as slow. He needed to get his chores done quickly because he also wanted to go to the hospital to see Chloe before he went back to metropolis to sort things out with Lana.

Any hopes he had of seeing Lana anytime soon were dashed when Lois's cell phone rang. "hello?" she said. "Mrs Kent slow down tell me what's up?...uh huh…what!?...ok we'll be there right away." She hung up.

"What is it?" Clark said.

"Its Chloe,"

"What's up? Is she awake?" he asked urgently.

Lois looked at him. "She's not just awake, she's gone crazy! She knocked a nurse unconscious and they've had to restrain her!"


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Get Your Rocks Off

They heard Chloe before they even got to her room. Her screams filled the hospital corridor and the sight that Clark and Lois saw before them as they there was genuinely terrifying. Chloe's arms and legs were shackled to the bed and she was writhing and fighting against them viciously. Her eyes were tinged with a blood red colour and her face could only be described as truly demonic. Martha Kent and a nurse were stood at her bedside trying desperately to calm her down.

"Oh my god, how long has she been like this?" Lois asked the nurse.

"Ever since she woke up about an hour ago," she replied. "The doctor even gave her a sedative but it's had no effect."

"Let me out!" Chloe screamed. "AHHHHHH!" Mrs. Kent tried frantically to get Chloe to calm down with no success.

"Shut up! Shut up! SHUT UP!" she yelled at Mrs Kent. Only just noticing Clark and Lois had entered the room; she quietened down and turned her attention to Clark. "Come on Clark," she said silkily, eyeing him lustfully. "Just rip these restraints off me. I shouldn't be here, I'm fine. You could have me outside in seconds."

Martha looked at Clark worryingly but fortunately Lois's attention was firmly fixed on her currently crazy cousin. She turned and looked at Clark in disbelief. "This isn't right; it's got to be something to do with her meteor power." She stated. "We have to do something Clark, and quick, or god knows what will happen to her if she's like this for a long period of time."

"Come on Clark," Chloe interrupted, again with the silky voice. "Break me out of here. What's the point in having all those powers if you never use them? It's not like anyone could hurt you."

Oh crap Clark thought. Seeing Lois raise her eyebrows at her cousin's statement was an obvious indicator that she picked up on that. If she didn't already have any suspicions about Clark, she would now. Doing the best he could to try and salvage the already inescapable situation he turned his attention to Chloe. "Look Chloe, you're sick and we need to find out what's wrong with you. You're not yourself right now." Chloe's face darkened again and she replied by starting to scream and shouting out profanities, making Mrs Kent look on in horror.

Think Clark think, he told himself. "I've got it!" he said triumphantly over Chloe's screaming. "Lois, if it was the meteor rocks that gave her the abilities in the first place then maybe a meteor rock can do something to calm her down."

"Like giving a crazy, detoxing junkie their drugs? It's so crazy it might just work!" Lois smiled. "And I know just where to get one." Before Clark could ask where she said, "Come on, I'll tell you on the way." He hoped Lois knew what she was doing. He wasn't going to tell her about the rock at the Kent farm unless he really had to.

"O.k. but I'm driving." This got Clark a snort from Lois.

"No offence Smallville but I've seen you drive. What we need now is speed, not 15 miles an hour under the speed limit listening to Country FM."

Ignoring her comment he turned to his mom. "Are you going to be ok?" he asked. She looked slightly worried but she nodded. Without hesitating he and Lois turned and ran to Lois's car. It wasn't until they were safely buckled in that Clark asked where they were headed.

"Luthor mansion." she said simply, shifting the gear stick into reverse and pulling out of the parking bay before putting her foot down.

"Why there?" Clark asked quizzically.

"Because baldy's vault is chock full of meteor rocks. All different colours, sizes and everything."

Clark had a very bad feeling about this, why would Lex have a collection of meteor rocks? He knew it couldn't be for something good. This caused Clark to wonder when his ex-friend had become so evil. Then he realised that there wasn't one specific point, if only it were that simple. There had always been a darkness in Lex but Clark had thought that he could somehow turn Lex into a better person and encourage him to turn his back on that darkness. But with every little choice Lex made, to satisfy his greed and curiosity, he had slowly veered from the good path and succumbed to his inner demons. It saddened Clark to think about it. He had honestly believed things would have turned out differently, but here they were and they needed something from Lex, something a friend would have given willingly.

"He isn't going to simply let us have a meteor rock you know," Clark said to Lois. "So how do you plan on getting it?"

Lois pulled out her cell phone and held it up. "With this." She punched in 911 and put the phone to her ear. "Hello? Yes. There's a bomb at the Luthor mansion which will explode in 5 minutes. Tick tock." She hung up the phone. And saw an opened mouthed Clark staring at her.

"I can't believe you just did that!" he yelled.

"Oh relax boy-scout, I just made our job ten times easier." And she had. As they pulled up at the gates to the Luthor mansion 5 minutes later they saw several police cars and a bomb squad located outside the main doors and everyone had been evacuated. Clark couldn't help but admit her plan had been effective.

"Nice plan lane." He complemented giving her a smile which she returned looking very smug.

"It's not over yet Smallville, we still need to sneak around the back and get in so don't blow our cover." They silently tiptoed around to the back of the house and, distracting Lois, Clark forced open one of the backdoors. She eyed him suspiciously but entered in silence. The place seemed completely deserted, Lois was one step ahead of Clark but he heard their voices first. Before Lois could round the corner he grabbed her by the waist and pulled her into the wall so she was face to face with him, their noses literally an inch apart.. Eyes locked and too scared to move in case they made a sound, they waited until the footsteps of the men from the bomb squad faded away and Clark released Lois.

"If your hands had gone any lower I would have had to break them," she said smiling slyly. Getting used to Lois's smart comments Clark retorted, "More physical contact, you'd like that wouldn't you?"

"Touché Smallville, touché." Putting their banter on hold they headed to Lex's now empty study and Lois hit the switch under his desk to reveal the vault. Entering the code she almost hit herself when it didn't work.

"Of course!" she shouted clearly frustrated. "Obviously he changed it after last time! Stupid Lois! Stupid Lois!" While she was busy berating herself Clark, using his superspeed, attempted to enter all the possible combinations. Within seconds he got it and the vault door began to slowly open. Lois turned round at the noise incredibly shocked. She eyed Clark more suspiciously than ever and then her look changed to one that made Clark feel incredibly uncomfortable. Every little suspicion she had about Clark Kent came to the foreront of her mind. All the times he had been there just in time to save the day, what had gone on in the caves, Chloe's comments and Clark's obvious discomfort at them.

"You know Clark," she said moving closer to him. "I've got a theory I want to test." The vault door was open and it revealed all the kryptonite Lois had been talking about. The green kryptonite was at the front and Clark felt its effects straight away.

"Just get the rock and let's go," Clark said to her gradually feeling weaker. But she ignored his request.

"I'm going to hit you Smallville and I don't think it will hurt you."

"What?" he asked incredulously. "Look Lois I don't know why you think that but honestly, I bruise like a peach." Before he could do anything to stop her she swung and hit him square in the jaw. He staggered back holding his mouth. Lois's face was stunned as she saw Clark look down at his hand that now had blood on it from his lip.

"What the hell Lois?! Why on earth did you do that?"

She felt incredibly stupid. "I-er-I- Oh god I'm so sorry Clark!" she said running over to him. I just thought- My god I'm such an idiot." Knowing there wasn't much time before the bomb squad would be done and Lex would be back Clark looked at Lois. "Just get the rock Lois we need to get going, now." Nodding she ran into the vault took the first green meteor rock she saw and closed the vault.

"O.k, time to go."

**_AN: PLEASE REVIEW! I LIKE REVIEWS!_**


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